Tape-serving mechanism



NOV. 2, 1943. Q p, RUE ET AL 2,333,109

TAPE-SERVING MECHANISM Filed s t. 11, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Nov. 2, 1943.

A. P. KRUEGER ET AL 2,333,109 TAPE-SERVING MECHANISM File d Sept. 11, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Nov. 2, 1943 UNITED :STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,333,109 TAPE-.SERYING MECHANISM Alfred P. Krueger, Stratford, and Michael J. West,

Shelton, Conn., assignors, by mesne assignments, to Better Packages, Inc., Shelton, Gonn., a corporation of New York Application September 11, 1940, Serial No. 356,312

11 Claims.

This invention relates to tape-serving machines, and more particularly to a device designed to deliver a strip of gummed tape for sealing packages, parcels, boxes or the like. Such tape is commonly made of paper, and is furnished in rolls, the tape being gummed upon one surface and wound up in the roll so that the gummed surface may either be on the inner or outer side of the strip when in the roll.

As the tape is in a continuous strip, it is advantageous to provide a device which will not only deliver the strip oftape with the gummed side properly moistened for adhering to the package or parcel, but also to provide for the cutting off of a length of the strip to save the operator the necessity of tearing it or cutting it manually. Moreover, it is desirable that the cutting off op eration be performed in a substantially automatic manner by the machine, that is, that the cutting of!" operation will be performed by the device when it is operating in the usual manner to deliver the strip of tape from the machine, and without any additional operations performed specifically for the cutting off of the strip.

A machine of this character is usually provided with tape-feeding means, such as a pair of feed rolls between which the tape passes to feed the tape from the roll through the moistening element so that it may be delivered in moistened condition, and while the parts of the machine should normally be in a feeding position so that the feed will begin immediately upon the operation of the 'device, it is also advantageous to provide means for stopping the feed during and after the operation of the cut-off mechanism, so that there will be no forward movement of the tape while the knife is across the path of the tape.

The present invention relates particularly to the feeding mechanism of a machine of the character described, and comprises in the embodiment illustrated a pair of feed rolls which are at all times in contact with the tape, one above and the other below the same.' However, mere contact of the rolls with the tape is not sufiicient to bring about the feeding operation, and spring-pressed means are provided to place the rolls under tension so that the tape willbe positively gripped therebetween and fed when the rolls are rotated. Upon operation of the cut-off mechanism this tension is relieved, so that, while the position of the rolls is not changed, there is no longer a' positive gripping of the tape between them, and hence the tape is not fed forwardly until the knife is raised and the rolls again placed under tension. It may be stated that th device shown in the present application is in many respects similar to the device shown in our application Serial No. 332,948, filed May 2, 1940, which differs therefrom principally in the arrangement of the feed rolls and cut-oil mechanism and the associated parts.

One object of the invention is the provision of an improved tape-serving machine having mechanism for cutting off a length of tape afterdelivery of the same from the machine, the device having feeding mechanism arranged to be rendered inoperative upon the operation of the cutoff mechanism.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a tape-serving machine of the character described, having feed rolls which are spring pressed into gripping relation with the tape, and means associated with the cut-off mechanism to remove this spring pressure from the rolls during the operation of the cut-off mechanism.

Still another object of the invention is the provision of a tape-serving machine having a feeding mechanism comprising a pair of rolls between which the tape passes, and spring-pressed means associated with one of said rolls'to urge it into contactwith the surface of the tape during the feeding operation, and means associated with a cut-off device for severing the tape to remove the spring tension from this roll so as to arrest the feeding operation during the time and immediately after a length of tape is being severed.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a tape-serving mechanism embodying our invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view through the feed rolls of the mechanism on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;.

Fig. 3 is a perspectiveview of the swinging knife frame employed in the machine;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional view through the forward portion of the device;

Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the parts in another position; and

Fig. 6,is a fragmentary sectional view of a modified form of our device, the section being taken just within the frame member I l.

' To illustrate a preferred embodiment of our invention we have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a tape-serving mechanism comprising a frame I0 having upstanding side walls II and I2 by'which the working parts of the mechanism aresupported. At the rear part of the machine means are provided such as a support [3 for supin Fig. 5. During the latterpart of this movement the arms 49 strike the rod 45 to swing the knife downwardly and raisethe arms of the knife frame from the shaft 21 so as to relieve'the tension on the roller l8 and insure that no feeding of the tape will result until the knife is returned to its normal position shown in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 6 of the drawingswe have. shown a modification of our invention wherein the parts are so arranged that the feed rollers are relieved from tension during the final portion of the movement of the lever 31 in its forward or feeding direction. In other words, while, as shown in Figs. 1 to 5 of thedr'awings, the feed roller I! is under tension until the lever 31' has proceeded on its return stroke to such a point that the arm 49 will strike the rod 45 and thus swing the rear end of the knife carrier upwardly, in the form of our invention shown in Fig. 6, when the lever has proceeded forwardly on its feed stroke to a predetermined point, the knife frame will be swung about its pivot to relieve the tension on the rollers and effect the severing operation, all prior to the beginning of the return stroke of the lever.

To this end the knife-carrying frame and associated parts are similar to the corresponding parts previously described, this frame having the horizontal members 42, and depending members 43% which are somewhat longer than the corresponding parts 43 previously described. These depending members 43 are joined by a rod 45' below the shaft 33 on which the operating lever (not shown) is secured. Arms 49* secured upon the shaft 33 are provided with tail or cam portions 49 which are adapted to strike the rod 45 when the shaft 33 has been rotated in a forward or feeding direction a predetermined amount. It will be understood that the arms 49 correspond to the arms 49 of the modification first described, and carry hooks 48 to which the springs 41 are secured.

It will be apparent that with this construction, when the operating lever is drawn forwardly tape will be fed from the device by the feed rollers l1 and [8. However, when this arm arrives at a predetermined position in its forward movement the cams 49* will strike the rod 45 and swing the knife carrier about its pivot 25 to bring the knife downwardly and sever the paper and raise the rear end of the knife-carrying frame from the shaft of the roller l1, so that this roller will no longer be under tension and feeding movement will be stopped. The rollers I1 will, of course, be relieved of tension immediately upon the beginning of the pivotal movement of the knife frame, so that there will be no feeding of the tape while the knife is across the path of the tape.

While we have shown and described preferred embodiments of our invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all the details shown, but is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim isi 1. A tape-serving machine comprising tapefeeding means, tape-severing means, a carrier for said severing means, said carrier exerting pressure on a part of said feeding means to render the same operative to feed tape, and means to free said feeding means from the pressure of said carrier to render the feeding means inoperative.

2. A tape-serving machine comprising tapefeeding means, tape-severing means, a carrier for said severing means, said carrier exerting pressure on a part of said feeding means to render the same operative to feed tape, and means to move said carrier to effect the severing of the tape by said severing means and simultaneously free the feeding means from pressure of the carrier.

3. A tape-serving machine comprising tapefeeding means, tape-severing means, a carrier for said severing means, spring means to hold said carrier in engagement with a part of said feeding means to render the same operative to feed tape, and means for moving said carrier out of such engagement and simultaneously operate the tape-severing means.

4. A tape-serving machine comprising a frame, a pair of cooperating tape-feeding rollers mounted in the frame, a shaft upon which one of said rollers is mounted, said shaft being loosely mounted in the frame, a member pivoted to the frame and adapted to engage said shaft, a spring urging said member into said engagement, tapesevering means carried by said member, and means for simultaneously operating the tapesevering means and moving said member out of engagement with said shaft against the tension of its spring.

5. A tape serving machine having tape feeding means and tape severing means, said tape feeding means including a feed roll in constant engagement with the tape, means to exert pressure on said roll to render the tape feeding means operative, said means also holding the tape severing means inoperative during feeding, said pressure means being releasable to render said tape feeding means inoperative when said tape severing means is operated.

6. A tape severing device having a frame, a pair of shafts mounted therein carrying cooperating feed rollers, one of said shafts being mounted for relative movement in the frame toward and away from the other to move its roller into and out of feeding relation with the other roller, said relative movement being limited so that said movable roller remains in constant contact with the tape passing between the rollers, a reciprocating handle for operating one of said rollers in tape feeding direction and a spring acting to move said handle in non-tape feeding direction, said spring acting on said relatively movable shaft to urge the roller thereon into feeding relation with the tape when said reciprocating handle is operated in tape feeding direction.

7. A tape serving machine having a frame, a shaft carried by the frame having a tape feeding roller mounted thereon, a cooperating feed roller mounted to act with said first feed roller, said shaft being mounted for movement toward and away from said cooperating feed roller, a knife carrier pivotally connected to said frame, said carrier being mounted for contact with said shaft and a spring urging said carrier against said shaft whereby the roller on said shaft is urged into feeding relation with the other roller.

8. A tape serving machine having a frame, said frame having parallel walls, a rotatable shaft mounted in said parallel walls, said shaft having a tape feeding roller, a cooperating tape feeding roller mounted in the frame, said shaft being mounted to move said first mentioned roller into and out of tape feeding relation, a knife carrying frame pivotally mounted in said shaft having a knife in the forward portion thereof and having slots in the rear portion thereof engaging said shaft when the knife is in non-operative position, a spring urging said carrier against said shaft, to urge theroller thereon against the tape and a reciprocating. handle. for operating said rollers, said carrier spring acting upon said h an-. die to: move itin non-tape feeding direction and a lever acting with. said: handle and engaging a part of said: carrier to relieve said shaft from pressure whereby tape feeding relation of the rollers is lost. and. then to, operate. the knife on thecarri'er'.

9'. In a tape. serving machine, tape feeding means. comprising a reciprocating feed handle and a pair of rollers. between which the tape passes, said rollers being in constant contact with the tape, means for applying feeding pressure to said: rollers; when said reciprocating handle is operated in tape. feeding direction and means. for releasing; said feeding pressure before the end of the. feed stroke of said handle.

n: a tape servin machine having feed means including an oscillating feed handle, and a pair of feed rolls in constant contact with the tape, means for applying feeding pressure to said rolls during the feeding stroke of said handle and relieving pressure during the idling stroke ,of said oscillating feed handle.

11. A tape serving machine having an oscillating feed handle, a pair of feed rolls in constant contact with the tape, and driving connections between said feed handle and at least one of said rolls for rotating one of said rolls, the upper roll being light in weight and resting on the tape by gravity when tape is not being fed, means for applying feeding pressure to said rolls during the feed stroke of said handle and means for relieving said pressure on the non-feed stroke of said handle.

ALFRED P. KRUEGER. MI HAE E T- 

